Nesting again...

It seems to happen every autumn. As soon as we move our lawn furniture in for the winter and dump all of our outdoor pots and planters, I start to feel the nesting urge again---the desire for a more comfortable and orderly home.

Over the last two weeks, despite having a bad cold, I've been clearing out space in my cupboards so that the glassware I love and use the most has more "breathing" room. I gave away our everyday stoneware to make room for a new set. And I gave away several older dishes and pieces of glassware that were mismatched and I've never really used.

I even gave away our entire Christmas set. That wasn't an easy decision for me, since it had all been given to me as gifts from friends and family over a number of years. But we live in a 1,200-square foot house, and it became hard for me to justify having a set that I only use one time a year at the most. I decided that my nice white wedding china would be just as nice as Christmas as it is at every other special meal during the year, and my table will still look festive if I use pretty holiday linens and other decorations.

As a result, I've been finding that I have been using more of my nicer dishes more often recently, just because it's easier to get them out and put them back. No longer do I need to take things out to get what I need, or carefully reach around tall stacks of my nice china, praying as I do that I won't break anything in the process.

I guess it all boils down to coming to the conclusion that we don't need more room for stuff around here. We just need less stuff. And I also believe that God is working on my heart through all of this to help me learn to let go of material things.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17)